New Fire Stations Possible in Kettering, OH

Kettering needs new fire power: wdtn.com

"I wouldn't say we are reorganizing our fire department we are actually looking for optimal fire stations in the future," said Mark Schwieterman, City Manager.

Schwieterman says they have identified this area of Far Hills, just west of Fairmont High School, as a potential location for the first new fire station to be built.

Schwieterman says it's still all in the very early stages, so he wasn't able to provide an exact dollar amount, but says each new station should cost somewhere between $2 and 4-million to construct.

LPO Testifies Before House and Senate Committees On Voters Rights

Taken directly from the Libertarian Party of Ohio web site in the hope of spreading the message.

Since the Libertarian Party of Ohio sued the state and won in 2006, Ohio has been without any legal means for a political party to obtain access to the ballot.

In 2008, at an unfortunate great cost to the state, four political parties sued in federal court to have their Creator-endowed First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Freedom of Assembly and Equal Treatment Under the Law upheld. In a victory for hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters, our 2008 case was successful, but litigation does not create new statutory law.

Ballot access efforts, particularly petitioning, do not come cheap. “The LPO has spent a great deal of effort on ballot access efforts including petitioning and making presentations to the legislature in the last few years,” noted Johnston. “And the expenses were minimized as much as possible by hundreds of volunteer hours of work, but costs for ballot access are still thousands of dollars.” Ballot access costs included the petitioning to place the first full statewide executive slate for a minor party since 1934 onto the 2010 ballot. Volunteers have also taken days off their paid employment to visit the Statehouse to stand up for the rights of all Ohioans

In 2007, then-LPO Chair Robert Butler testified on behalf of LP members in front of the General Assembly in favor of free elections. Since 2007, the LPO has regularly sent Chair Kevin Knedler, current Vice Chair Michael Johnston, and others down to the Statehouse to meet legislators, either individually or in small groups. Over those years, we have built positive relationships with representatives and senators of both political parties who favor common sense laws for ballot access.
Wednesday and Thursday, Johnston and LPO Executive Committee member Bob Bridges travelled to the Statehouse to continue educating sitting legislators about the importance of fair, free, and open elections. Johnston testified before the Ohio House’s State Government and Elections Committee yesterday regarding House Bill 194 and this morning before the Ohio Senate’s Government Oversight and Reform Committee about Senate Bill 148.

Some lawmakers seemed receptive while others appeared more hesitant to allow other political parties to participate in the political process, said Johnston. “In a time when the United States is spending blood and treasure to spread free elections and democracy in the Middle East, the easiest thing in the world to do should be to spread it here in Ohio. The first national election in Iraq had numerous political parties on the ballot. Yet despite the successful election in a nation unused to partisan politics, some Ohio legislators seem to think that we cannot handle even three.”

The LPO asked the General Assembly to include ballot petitioning standards, ballot retention reform, and inclusion of independent and minor party members on Boards of Election and as poll workers. “Ohio has been run by a duopoly without competition for so long that most voters can’t even remember participating in an open election prior to 2008,” said Knedler. “I look forward to an election process in Ohio that includes a true free market exchange of ideas.”

Special thanks to Senator Faber for allowing photography of the testimony before the Senate Committee, and thanks Senator Faber and Representative Mecklenborg for allowing the Libertarian Party of Ohio to testify to their respective committees on this important issue.

For information on how to contribute to, join, and participate in the Libertarian Party of Ohio please visit our website at www.LPO.org, join your local LP Meetup Group, or “Like” us on Facebook and network directly with party leaders from around the state.

In addition to speaking, the LPO also provided written testimony to both committees. Please view the PDFs of our presentation and suggested amendment language. When reviewing our suggested changes, normal text is existing law, underlined text is recommended additions, and struck through text is existing law that we recommend removing/changing.

Ohio State Fire Marshal Reminder: Most Fireworks Are Illegal

Issued by the
Ohio Department of Commerce
Shane Cartmill, Public Information Officer

State Fire Marshal Reminds Citizens That Most New Year’s Fireworks Are Illegal

Interim State Fire Marshal Donald Cooper is asking citizens to leave New Year’s fireworks displays to the professionals while also reminding revelers that many fireworks are illegal to discharge in the State of Ohio. This reminder comes in the wake of two serious fireworks-related injuries in the past week.

“The best way for Ohioans to prevent fireworks injuries is to attend a licensed, professional fireworks exhibition on New Year’s Eve,” said Interim State Fire Marshal Donald Cooper. “Keep in mind that even trick and novelty fireworks, like sparklers, are inherently dangerous and can cause serious injury.”

Fireworks, like bottle rockets and roman candles that are sold at fireworks stores around Ohio, can be legally purchased in the state, but must be taken out of Ohio for discharge. “You must be at least 18 years of age to buy items such as firecrackers and bottle rockets at the stores you see along the roadways of Ohio,” said Cooper.  “But firing them off within state boundaries is strictly prohibited.”

Under Ohio's fireworks law, stiff penalties can be applied for the illegal possession or discharge of fireworks.  It is a first-degree misdemeanor for non-licensed individuals to discharge fireworks in Ohio, to falsify an application when purchasing fireworks, or to possess them for more than 48 hours without taking them out-of-state.  First-time offenders are subject to up to a $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment. 

The only types of fireworks that can be legally purchased and discharged in Ohio are trick and novelty devices. These include items that smoke, sparkle, snap and snake.

On December 25^th, a 21-year-old Butler County man received serious injuries to his hand after fireworks he was using detonated. A day later, a 33-year-old Warren County man received serious injuries to both hands after fireworks he was using detonated on the balcony of his apartment building. Both incidents remain under investigation by the Division of State Fire Marshal and the local authorities.

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19-year-old in surgery after horrific I-675 crash

911 Call: I'm On The Back Of A Moving Semi | NBC 4i

9-1-1 Caller Reports Jesus On fire

Call2_jesus_statue_710119a.mp3

(download)

Click here to download:

Call2_jesus_statue_710119a.mp3 (621 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

9-1-1-caller-reports-jesus-on-fire-gwsvCEzajJEnlatplIdG.zip (107 KB)

Vote Libertarian, Ohio

This was in my mailbox today. This made me very happy.

Red Light Violations in Springfield, Ohio

I've spent a lot of time on the streets of Springfield over the years. First, as a radio sales executive with a radio station there. Then, I spent many hours in town going to and from band rehearsals and gigs.

I recognize most of the intersections in this video. I've also seen many cars blow through some of these intersections, as well. It is amazing how blatantly some people do this.

TuneWiki Is In My Neighborhood

Each day I drive by a very historic building in our neighborhood. The building at 4 W. Franklin Street in Centerville, Ohio has housed a variety of businesses dating clear back to 1872.

According the Centerville-Washington Township Historical Society

A log cabin first stood on this site in 1816. It was used as a cooperage in the 1820s and 30s making barrels for the pork packing business. The present two-story Victorian building (the Franklin Street portion) was built by Clark Pine in 1872 and incorporates at least two earlier buildings into a unified structure. The foundation and sill plates of the log cabin can be seen on the southeast corner of this building. The two-story section and porch on the west side were added in 1895. This building also served as the Centerville Post Office in the 1880s.

Source: http://www.mvcc.net/Centerville/histsoc/clark.htm

My only recollections of the structure have been recent. I moved to Centerville in 1988. I can remember a variety of shops in the building, including the Coffee Affair (my favorite), the Ashley and Hillary Boutique, a (very high priced) denim clothing store, and another clothing boutique. None of these lasted for long. One of the primary culprits appears to be a lack of available parking for a retail store. (I feel that some of the failure was the very eclectic nature of the retail goods and the extremely high prices.)

Recently, however, I've noticed a new logo on the windows of the building. As I am an active musician and fan of most things of the techno-geek variety, the logo caught my eye.

The site -- and the apps it seems -- also offers:

• Music News
• Streaming music
• Forums for music fans to discuss the songs they like/dislike
• Social connections to Facebook and Twitter
• Map charting to show what people are listening to -- with geolocation
• Music downloads

and a ton of other stuff. It looks like they are constantly developing more content and technology to cater to music fans.

The service appears to be free. The iPod app that I downloaded was free, as well. There are advertisements served both on the web site and within the app that I have been using. This integrates well and has not distracted me from enjoying the service.

So far I have been impressed with some of the features of this app. It catalogs the music that I already have on my iPod. When I start listening to this music within the app, it downloads lyrics to the song I'm listening to and shows them line-by-line in real time with the tune. Impressive! There have only been a few songs where lyrics were unavailable, but this doesn't surprise me as they are from independent artists or more eclectic offerings. There is also a limited number of artists where the service will not be able to provide lyric content. They state on the TuneWiki site:

Because TuneWiki is a legal service (unlike the majority of lyrics websites on the internet) we must comply with any wishes that the publishers and artists have about their lyrics.

This can change! We know EMI want to give us the rights to host the lyrics but they can't. Let us help them by showing as much public support as possible. Please reply to this topic. Your reply will be included in a petition with EMI to allow us to host the lyrics.
If we get enough people supporting us then we can show the EMI that our users really want the lyrics and then something can be done about it.

I'm quite impressed with the extensive offering of the site. It caters well to listeners of popular music. As a listener of more independent music -- or less mainstream artists -- I may not always find what I'm looking for here. I certainly could care less about what L@dy G*G* is doing, but there is a lot of content on the site about that one. [Artist name submitted differently by this author, as I don't want the flame wars and comment spam that results from this high profile search term.]

I guess the thing that impresses me the most, though, is that the operation is in place in a very historic building in the center of my little town. The computers, desks, and high tech logo on the windows and walls is a stark contrast to the very rustic and historic appearance that we often see in this building. It is nice to know that a business in the tech industry has found its way to my neighborhood. (I wonder if they need a media relations/promotions guy? I could walk to work!) And, of course, this doesn't appear to be a retail operation. It is an office environment for an online operation.

Give them a try on your iPod/iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian device. Or just click on over to TuneWiki.com to see what they're all about.

Wright brothers’ 6th-place ranking is a shock to many